Lorenzo Valla’s De libero arbitrio: A Dialogue between Theology and the Studia Humanitatis
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.53439/stdfyt55.28.2025.135-160Keywords:
De libero arbitrio, Lorenzo Valla, dialogue, theology, free will, BoethiusAbstract
Lorenzo Valla’s dialogue De libero arbitrio is a key text for understanding and analyzing the debates on Christian theology in the context of the Renaissance of the studia humanitatis in the first half of the Quattrocento. True to his polemical style, Valla attacks the Boethian perspective on free will presented in book V of his De consolatione philosophiae, using arguments aimed at challenging the intrusion of philosophy into theological matters. This article aims to analyze these issues through the dialogical structure of the De libero arbitrio, in the context of the 15th-century revival of the ancient dialogue form and in relation to Valla’s other dialogues. The article also examines how this dialogue weaves together philosophical, theological, and rhetorical resources to rethink the relationship between human reason, Christian faith, and freedom, and concludes with a reflection on the immediate influence of these positions in certain texts by Erasmus and Luther.
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